Christian Eriksen will again miss out as Tottenham Hotspur host Everton on Saturday, whilst Andros Townsend could be available after returning to training.

Danish playmaker Eriksen missed last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium and has now been ruled out of Saturday’s visit from the Toffees (kick-off 5.30pm).

“Christian Eriksen is still out and we need to assess some players,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed after training.

There is, though, better news regarding England international Townsend, who has yet to be involved this season due to an ankle problem.

Pochettino said: “Andros Townsend is in the group again and may be available to be in the squad, but after that there are no big issues or problems.”

One man who will be relishing the trip to Goodison Park is former Everton youngster Eric Dier. The England Under-21 cap spent time on loan with the Merseysiders in the second half of the 2010/11 without making a senior appearance.

He returned to parent club Sporting Lisbon before making the move to White Hart Lane in 2014 after 31 appearances for the Portuguese side.

“There are still a few players at Everton from the time I was there – I trained with their first team sometimes and got to know people like Ross Barkley,” explained Dier. “He’s been playing really well so it’ll be good to test ourselves against people like him.”

But after two draws and a defeat in the Premier League for Spurs this season, the 21-year-old’s focus will not be on reunions at Goodison.

“We’re extremely disappointed with how it’s gone in terms of our results so far,” the Cheltenham-born defender admitted. “We’ve obviously conceded after going ahead in the last two games but we’re going to try our best not to let it happen again.”

Belgian midfielder Mousa Dembele remains upbeat, though, despite Spurs’ sluggish start to the new campaign and has found solace in performances, if not results.

He said: “We’re disappointed about the results but we’re not disappointed about the way we’ve played for the most part.

“There have been a few bits in our matches that we need to improve on but in general we’re very positive and we have a lot of confidence to produce a good result against Everton.”

The Toffees, who were 5-3 winners after extra-time against Barnsley in the League Cup second round on Wednesday, have endured a mixed start to the season.

A 2-2 opening-day draw against top flight new-boys Watford was followed by a convincing 3-0 win at Southampton. On Sunday Roberto Martinez’s side were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City at home.

Everton will be without Leighton Baines (ankle), Brendan Galloway (knee), Steven Pienaar (hamstring), Darron Gibson (ankle) and Tony Hibbert (knee).

Whether or not Chelsea target John Stones features after seeing a transfer request turned down remains to be seen.

The former Barnsley defender played against the Tykes on Wednesday evening but on Thursday chairman Bill Kenwright confirmed a request to leave has been denied.